The NHL commissioner sent a memo to the league's 30 teams, including the governors and general managers, Tuesday outlining a realignment plan that would see the league go from six divisions to four with a redesigned playoff format as early as next season.

In a copy of the memo from Bettman and deputy Bill Daly obtained by the QMI Agency, the new alignment plan calls for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings to be part of a 16-team Eastern Conference. The Western Conference would have 14 teams.

The East would have two eight-team divisions while the West would be made up two seven-team divisions. It should be noted the memo suggests this realignment does leave the NHL "flexibility to move a team in case of relocation."

There would be a crossover to ensure every team plays each other twice. Depending on the conference and division teams are in, they'd play each other five or six times.

The Winnipeg Jets, now playing in the Southeast, would move to the new Midwest Division as the only Canadian team. The beauty of this is four Original Six teams -- Boston, Detroit, Montreal and Toronto -- would play together in the Central with Ottawa, Buffalo, Florida and Tampa.

The NHL can't go ahead with the change without the blessing of the NHL Players' Association and the board of governors. But Bettman and Daly won't take the plan to the board until the players have given their approval.

The playoff set-up would change dramatically from the current format. The top three teams in each division would be guaranteed a playoff spot. The other four spots in the post-season would be made up of what the league calls "wild cards".

The playoffs would be divisional, instead of being based on conference standings, which means the No. 1 seed in one division will meet No. 4. That fourth team will be the wild-card team. The league is trying to satisfy the union's concerns because it balked at a similar realignment last year.

"If a team finds itself in a particularly strong division, it could still qualify for the playoffs even though it does not finish as a 'top four' team in its division," said the memo. "Conversely, a fourth place finisher in a particularly weak division may miss the playoffs if its year-end point total does not allow it to qualify as a wild card."

Once the first round is completed, the eight surviving teams stay in their division for Round 2. The third round is a conference final format, allowing the NHL to keep the integrity of an East-West Stanley Cup final.

The selling feature for the NHL is the playoffs and Daly is hopeful this will pass the sniff test for the union.

"We have been in discussions with the (NHLPA) for the past several weeks on the issue of realignment and we are trying to get to a solution that everybody can live with," Daly said Tuesday. "There are no perfect answers here, so we have to do the best we can in trying to adequately address a number of competing concerns.

"Once we get to a point where we have the union's go-ahead, we will present it to our board of governors for its consideration. We certainly hope to be in a position to announce something in the relatively near term."

The memo said "the players want a chance to canvass their executive before making a decision."

The league wants a deal in place by the end of the week so the board can hold a vote immediately.

Playoff modification key to NHL realignment approval

The NHL commissioner sent a memo to the league's 30 teams, including the governors and general managers, Tuesday outlining a realignment plan that would see the league go from six divisions to four with a redesigned playoff format as early as next season.

In a copy of the memo from Bettman and deputy Bill Daly obtained by the QMI Agency, the new alignment plan calls for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings to be part of a 16-team Eastern Conference. The Western Conference would have 14 teams.